Impermanence

The photo series “Impermanence” documents the physical expression of sedimentological processes created by the receding tide. By obscuring the viewer’s understanding of scale and content, I turn what could be a geologic snapshot, into a disorienting experience of the ephemeral. The energetic exchange between abstract form and concrete content is a manifestation of the universal tensions between the forces of chaos and order. There is an endless variety of shapes and patterns, variations that are linked to the direction of the winds, the phase of the lunar cycle, and the time of year. The stark contrast in tonality is because the sand is composed of ground up seashells (white) and eroded basalt rocks (black). Due to the density difference between the white sand (light weight) and the dark sand (heavier), these two materials are layered over one another, each responding to the movement of the water in their own unique way. The remoteness of this location (in the heart of cougar territory), along with the impermanence of these delicate granular formations adds an element of the sublime to these images. Subject to further manipulation by sand fleas, wind, rain, and footprints, these compositions exist for only a few hours, until the tide rises and washes them away. It is a lesson in letting go, and relinquishing control. The transient fluid element of the tide is both creator and destroyer. When perceived within the right temporal framework, nothing is truly permanent.

These photos were shot on unceded Tlatlasikwala First Nations traditional territory.

Out of Emptiness

Out Of Emptiness, is a side project that I perform as a way to escape isolation by engaging in serendipitous discoveries while looking for sculptural pieces of wood at the beach. These pieces have been burrowed by the toredo mollusc, a worm like creature that lives in the ocean and eats wooden debris (most of which is collateral detritus from the logging industry). The resulting form expresses time on a variety of scales related to the ocean currents (months/years), the lifespan of a mollusc (months/years), and the tree rings seen in the wood (decades/centuries). I have a collection of over a hundred of these pieces, which I may or may not continue to use in my art practice. The act of turning a found piece of wood into a sacred art object is related to the indigenous Chinese tradition where market vendors sell distinctively shaped tree parts for domestic display. I have illuminated these specimens to imply an archival museum context, though, I think they would be more interesting raised and mounted, slowly spinning on a pedestal to be appreciated and glorified, in a way that borderlines on the absurd.